Civil Rights Leader. Born in Palmers Crossing, Mississipi, she became a key figure in the struggle by Mississippi blacks to win their political and civil rights in the 1960s, and the first woman to seek a seat in the United States Senate from her state. In 1964, Adams decided to take on Senator John C. Stennis, the Mississippi Democrat who at the time had been in the Senate for 16 years. She then announced that she and others from the tiny Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (which she co-founded) would challenge the power of the segregationist politicians. That decision became a turning point for the civil rights movement and for the Democratic Party, which for most of its history had been profoundly influenced by all-white delegations from the South. (bio by: José L Bernabé Tronchoni)